NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th March, 2021) Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Anurag Srivastava said on Friday that New Delhi was expecting Beijing to cooperate in resolving the crisis situation in the border region of Ladakh following last week's phone conversation between the Indian and Chinese foreign ministers.
On February 25, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discussed the relations between New Delhi and Beijing in phone talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. The two sides pulled out their troops from the Lake Pangong Tso area of the so-called Line of Actual Control (LAC) earlier last month and held the 10th round of the senior commanders' meeting, discussing the remaining issues in the region.
"It is therefore our expectation that the Chinese side will work with us, both through the [Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination] WMCC and Senior Commanders' meetings, to ensure that disengagement in the remaining areas is completed at the earliest. This would allow both sides to consider de-escalation of forces in Eastern Ladakh as that alone will lead to the restoration of peace and tranquility and provide conditions for progress in our bilateral relationship," Srivastava said.
Since the 1962 war between India and China, the two lack a duly demarcated borderline in the Himalayas. As a consequence, the area has since frequented seeing hassles between the military of both sides.
Following a deadly escalation near Lake Pangong Tso last May, India and China boosted their military presence in the disputed region, while simultaneously launching the disengagement consultations. As talks were underway, another two major clashes took place in June and August of that year which left dozens of soldiers killed on both sides.
